MSS: Maclin Davis

National high school record holder Maclin Davis jons today's edition of The Morning Swim Show to look back on his speedy 100 fly from the Tennessee state meet. Davis, a senior at Montgomery Bell Academy, talks about the swim and the mistakes he made during the race. He also talks about trying to break a legendary 100 free state record, choosing the University of Southern California and whether his new record changes his goals for the Olympic Trials.

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Jeff Commings: This is the Morning Swim Show for Tuesday, February 21st, 2012. I'm your host Jeff Commings. And today in the FINIS Monitor we'll talk to the national high school record holder in the 100 Butterfly. Maclin Davis, the senior from Montgomery Bell Academy, set that record of 46.64 just a few days ago at the Tennessee State Championships. And Maclin joins us right now from Nashville, Tennessee. Hey, Maclin, welcome to the Morning Swim Show. How are you today?

Maclin Davis: Hey. I'm doing great.

Jeff Commings: So how does it feel to be the fastest 100 butterflyer in high school history?

Maclin Davis: Well, it feels fantastic. After years of training for this record, it feels great to finally break it. It's a very satisfying experience.

Jeff Commings: Take us through that race and, you know, I'm sure, as being a swimmer myself, I can tell you a lot of my favorite swims feel like a blur, but tell us what you remember from it.

Maclin Davis: Well, it was -- after my medley relay swim earlier that morning I just -- I felt great and I was like, well, you know what, I"m just going to take the pressure off and go for it this morning in prelims. And I got a great warm up, went over behind the blocks, and it just kinda worked out right. I had been feeling really fast in practice the two days before the meet and just being shaved and fully tapered, I just was able to get it done. There were a few things I kinda screwed up on, like, I got some really -- I really messed up a few of the walls and my finish was really short and my coach was really eager to point that out, coz he's always looking for reasons for me to go faster. But, overall, I think it was a really great race and it felt -- just felt great swimming it.

Jeff Commings: Now, last year, you got very close to breaking that national high school record that Sean Fletcher had. His record was 47.10 and you went 47.14 your junior year. What did you do in this past year to ensure that you were gonna, not only get that record, but now, you know, drop those five tenths?

Maclin Davis: Well, I think I swam the race with a little bit more maturity. Last year, I was more all about speed and less about the whole -- the race as a whole. Last year I went out just sprinting my brains out. I think I breathed maybe twice on the first 50, and then it just kinda died. This year, I brought it back over half a second faster which, I think, was a testament to how I've training smarter and racing smarter and, you know, not trying to -- not basing the success of the race on how fast the first 50 of it is.

Jeff Commings: And you're also going for a very accomplished state record in the 100 Freestyle who -- that record is held by Gil Stovall, who would go on to go to the Olympics in the 200 Fly. I understand he was there and he gave you a little bit of unusual kind of encouragement.

Maclin Davis: Yes, Gayle and I have known each other for a really long time, we're actually on the same swim team together back in Memphis, and so he's watched me grow up and he"s been a great support to me. He said to me, he said, I see you trying to knock down all my records. And I said, well, not necessarily. He said, yeah, well, you better break it or I'm gonna hit you in the face. Just kind of like whoa, okay, man, I'll try. And so I came really close " five one-hundredths of a second off, but he ended up, you know, just giving me a hug and saying good job. I told them it was close enough and he was just -- I guess, he was just kinda glad he was able to keep it for a little longer.

Jeff Commings: Tell us what the time was in the 100 Free?

Maclin Davis: That was 44.84.

Jeff Commings: That's pretty good, pretty good. I'm sure Dave Salo out in the University of Southern Cal was really happy to see that time. Were you expecting to go under 45?

Maclin Davis: Sort of. I mean, I hardly ever really get to swim the 100 Freestyle with a good opportunity though I was definitely trying to take advantage of the opportunity to swim it fast and I was really happy with my time. I cut it about a second, which is never something to complain about.

Jeff Commings: Absolutely.

Maclin Davis: Yeah, and I was mostly glad that my 100 free time was faster than my 100 fly time. I kind of struggle with that sometimes.

Jeff Commings: Yeah, that's not something that people usually say if their 100 fly faster than their 100 free.

Maclin Davis: Yeah.

Jeff Commings: Tell us about the school that you go to, Montgomery Bell Academy.

Maclin Davis: Well, it's a really nice school. It's a private school, all boys, and they're supportive of me and the swim team in general. I get lots of congratulations. People ask me all sorts of really dumb questions about swimming, and I get to answer them with a sense of humor. And it's good. It really gives me more incentive to work hard and fight for the MBA team to win at state.

Jeff Commings: Well, anything that can increase the exposure of swimming, you know, answer all the dumb questions that you can.

Maclin Davis: Of course, yes.

Jeff Commings: And when it's not in the high school season, you swim for Nashville Aquatic Club, correct?

Maclin Davis: That's true.

Jeff Commings: Being a sprinter, tell us about a set or two that you really like to do there.

Maclin Davis: Well, there's one set that we occasionally where we do four sets of four 50s, and they're usually on a very slow interval, like, two minutes, and the goal is to go all out on the first one and to hold that pace for the rest of the four. And after the four 50s you'll normally have like a 200 easy, and I really like it because it lets you go all out, but it also lets you get really tired and work on your endurance. And I think that"s sort of a -- it's a very good balance to keep and it's not kept in every set. And so that's why I really appreciate that certain set. I normally do it, like, fly on the first and last rounds, maybe free and backstroke in the middle to keep me tired, keep me training on other strokes. But doing fly in the last set is very challenging and it's -- I just think it's a great set to help me finish the 100 Fly.

Jeff Commings: Absolutely. Now, in the fall, you're gonna be going to the Southern Cal, as we said, why did you pick the Trojans?

Maclin Davis: Well, I picked them for a variety of reasons. I guess the biggest reason was it had the best mix of what I wanted in a school. It was very encouraging of what I want to go in to academically, and then the guys on the team were very laid back and very accepting of different sorts of people and they are really inclusive which I was really appreciative of. And I seemed -- I just felt like I really felt at home there, really fit in well with the guys on the team.

Jeff Commings: Do you have any idea what your major might be?

Maclin Davis: I'm trying to go into Fine Arts, and it was a great draw for USC because they were, like, oh, okay, we have lots of swimmers who have done fine arts. In other places they were, like, well, I'm not sure how that's gonna work. That really didn't instill much confidence in me. But at USC they were, like, oh, sure we'll definitely do it. We'll work it out, it'll be great. And I just loved it.

Jeff Commings: Were you talking about -- when you say Fine Arts, what specifically do you think you wanna get into?

Maclin Davis: Well, I enjoy drawing, painting a little bit. The thing -- another big thing about USC is it's located in the middle of Los Angeles which is a great artistic community, and the hookups when you get out of college to, you know, maybe get a job or get recognition to a large degree is very -- the chances are great in Los Angeles more than most places. So that was a huge draw considering what I would like to go into as a career.

Jeff Commings: Well, who knows, you might end up being an art director at a movie or a TV show. You might be able to help design some of the sets we see in these big blockbuster movies. You never know.

Maclin Davis: Maybe.

Jeff Commings: So, back to swimming, obviously, 46.64, you know, raises is a lot of -- turns a lot of heads, raises a lot of eyebrows. You're obviously gonna be someone people are gonna be looking at Olympic trials. How does this swim affect your goals for that meet?

Maclin Davis: Well, I wouldn't really say that it changes them that much. I feel like long course is a very different sort of swimming than short course, especially because long " underwaters and turns are really not my specialty. I'm much better just on a continuous swimming, like long course. So I feel like I have more potential to keep improving long course and this 46.6 does bode well, but I feel like I have a lot to improve in the long course pool and that I have more time to cut and more chance -- spots to move up at the Olympic trials.

Jeff Commings: Well, that's gonna be something we're gonna definitely have to see if you can hold with the best of the best which is what the Olympic trials is.

Maclin Davis: Yeah, competitive.

Jeff Commings: Yes, it is. Well, Maclin, thanks again for joining us. Congratulations on a very, very successful Tennessee State Meet and best of luck to you heading into Olympic trials.

Maclin Davis: Well, thank you.

Jeff Commings: All right, that's Maclin Davis, the new National High School record holder in the 100 Fly joining us in the FINIS Monitor today. That's gonna do it for today's show. I'm Jeff Commings. Thanks for watching.